Concern Levels

A Transect Report provides a snapshot of the risk associated within a project area based on the concern levels for species, waters, protected areas, and environmental compliance. 

In this article, we’ll review the:

• Concern Levels in the Executive Summary
• Species Concern Levels
• Waters Concern Levels
• Protected Areas Concern Levels
• Environmental Compliance Concern Levels

Concern Levels in the Executive Summary

The Executive Summary provides a high-level overview of potential environmental concerns associated with your project. It also identifies key resource types and assigns a concern level (high, medium, or low) based on available data and project context.

Transect assesses the following resources:

• Species: Focuses on federally and state-protected species within the project area.
• Waters: Identifies potential impacts on wetlands, streams, rivers, floodplains, and other water resources.
• Protected Areas: Highlights the presence of federal, state, tribal, local, and other conservation lands.
• Environmental Compliance: Provides a preliminary assessment of potential contamination risks.

Each resource category then has a designated concern level based on specific criteria:

• High Concern (red): There is a high risk that these resources will affect the project footprint, timeline, or budget.
• Moderate Concern (yellow): There is a moderate risk that these resources will affect the project footprint, timeline, or budget.
• Low Concern (green): There is a low risk that these resources will affect the project footprint, timeline, or budget.

Within each Concern Assessment, there will also be the following information:

• A summary count of the active regulations, permits, and recommendations related to each topic.
• Recommended next steps based on the information within the report.
• A snapshot of the data contributing to the high, medium, or low concern level.

Clicking Learn More in the bottom left of a Concern Assessment will provide more information about the concern rating.

Species Concern Levels

Species of Concern is a term used differently by many conservation and regulatory groups. You can find more information about Species Concern Levels in this article.

Waters Concern Levels

Waters like waterways, streams,  and wetlands are crucial to identify during the due diligence process because they can potentially impact the viability of a project area. These waters are identified by federal datasets (NHD and NWI) to understand where they exist within a project area.

You will see a concern level based on the following information:

• High Concern: The concern level will be high if the project area intersects any wetland areas, waterbody areas, or streams, or if it was indicated waters will be impacted from the context questions*. 
• Moderate Concern: The concern level will be moderate if there are no NWI wetlands or NHD streams within the project area, but it is within a FEMA 100-year floodplain.
• Low Concern: The concern level will be low if the project area does not intersect or contain with wetland areas, streams, or waterbody areas, or if it was indicated waters will be not impacted from the context questions*.

Protected Areas Concern Levels

Protected lands encompass a vast network of federal, tribal, state, local, and private conservation areas to preserve the planet's biodiversity and provide opportunities for recreation. Because these lands are legally protected, understanding a project's proximity to these areas is crucial. Development in these areas often requires stricter environmental reviews and permitting processes, which can significantly impact your project's timeline, budget, and overall footprint.

You will see a concern level based on the following information:

• High Concern: The concern level will be high if the project area intersects any federally owned or managed areas.
• Moderate Concern: The concern level will be moderate if the project area intersects any state-owned or managed areas, other owned or managed areas, or any tribal areas.
• Low Concern: The concern level will be low if the project area does not intersect with any federally owned or managed areas, state-owned or managed areas, other owned or managed areas, or tribal areas.

Environmental Compliance Concern Levels

The Environmental Compliance information within a Transect Report provides a preliminary understanding of potential environmental contamination or compliance issues that may affect the economics, placement, or scheduling of a project.

You will see a concern level based on the following information:

• High Concern: The concern level will only be high if it is overridden by a user or admin. You can learn more about overrides in this article.
• Moderate Concern: The concern level will be moderate if the project area intersects any environmental catalog location areas, federal facilities with formal actions areas, federal facilities with penalties areas, federal facilities with violations areas, or Federal facilities with resource conservation and recovery acts areas.
• Low Concern: The concern level will be low if the project area does not intersect with any environmental catalog location areas, federal facilities with formal actions areas, federal facilities with penalties areas, federal facilities with violations areas, or federal facilities with resource conservation and recovery acts areas.